When big planes start flying regularly out of a largely vacant airport, people notice. That's the case at the Wilmington Air Park where, for a few months now, four Boeing 767s have been taking off daily.
Motherboard first reported that Amazon would be the most likely to contract with Air Transport Services Group (ATSG). The technology publication says the shipping venture's code name is "Aerosmith." ATSG spokesman Paul Cunningham told WVXU a company did sign a short-term contract but he wouldn't say who.
The Wilmington Air Park has been aggressively marketing itself since DHL left in 2009 and the German company donated the land to the Clinton County Port Authority.
Brandon Fried thinks Wilmington would be a great location for Amazon to sort its packages and fly out of as the company looks to lower costs. He's the executive director of the Airforwarders Association in Washington D.C.
"Their transportation expense is significant and maybe this is a way to cut that down by taking some of that in-house and chartering its own mini-air system if you will," according to Fried.
"This is a game of efficiency and (Amazon is) in a very competitive marketplace right now," he says.
Amazon did not return a call for comment.
Amazon already has a large presence in the Tristate. The company has a warehouse in Hebron and plans to invest $1 billion in Ohio with distribution and data centers in suburban Columbus.
